Home is where the heart is

They say that "home is where the heart is."  My heart finally found its home here in JKL last Thurs. evening.  Päivi, a friend of mine from church, invited me to join her for line dancing classes.  One of my colleagues, Elina, and I had made plans to go for a walk on the same night as the class.  I pitched the idea to Elina and she was game for trading in hiking books for dancing shoes that night!  So...off we went to check out what line dancing classes are like here in JKL.

It was AMAZING!!  Thank you Päivi for the invitation!!  

The best part about this picture?  Elina's very focused face.  (Note: Elina requested that I post this picture instead of the other picture where we're all looking straight into the camera.)  This was her first time to try her hand (or feet, rather) at line dancing. She's a natural.  Seriously.  I might be prone to hyperbolic statements now and again.  Not this time.  She said the key was her intense focus...which definitely comes through in this picture.  :) 

I had a terrific time dancing my heart out alongside of great friends.  One of the songs even mentioned Texas.  Right on!

After dancing I headed over to Elina's place for an evening snack.  Elina had made a delicious pie (salty, that is...with tomatoes, yellow bell peppers, feta cheese...yum!!) and I brought the brownies.  I loved her Moomin plates, mugs and napkins.  These characters are part of the "Adventure" series.  Quite apropos for our evening.  And...we were also celebrating another milestone in Elina's academic career: her last interview with her participants for her PhD fieldwork.  AHHH!!  Onnea paljon Elina!

 Last weekend JKL held its annual fall Farmer's Market.  Hanna and I went to check out all the goodies.  We passed several salmon smoke pits (I have no idea if that's what they're actually called...) and I was happy to admire them from afar.  :)  Although, I am proud to say that the last two times I was served fish I didn't gag while eating them.  I am determined to actually like fish by the time I leave Finland.

I also bought a pair of knitted wool hand warmers.  The woman we bought them from (pictured here) has knit nearly all of the gloves, mittens, and socks on display.  Ihana!  She was kind enough to take a picture with me.  And, just for the record, I'm not wearing heels. :)

We had AWESOME weather last Sunday.  Aila Phillips and I took a walk around the lake near our apartments.  She and I are practically neighbors.  And she's kind enough to let me hitch a ride to church with her on Sundays.  Kiitos Aila!!  You can see the ski jump in the background.  Now that the fall is here, it's normally overcast and rainy.  It was great to have a break from the rain and enjoy the sun for a day.

After the sun went down, I met up with the Wheelers via Skype.  The Wheelers are like my second family.  They moved to Connecticut last year.  I was OVER THE MOON that our schedules worked out such that we could catch up via Skype.  I love these girls!!  Sarah (their mom) and I first met back when she was expecting Kate (pictured on the far left).  Sarah and I are both members of our church's women's organization, the Relief Society, and she was assigned to be my visiting teacher.  Who would have guessed that 9 years later we'd run into each other in the temple...which led to us reconnecting and me being immensely blessed to work with her girls as their sign language teacher?!?!  It's amazing to watch these girls grow and mature.  I absolutely LOVE them to pieces!!  Sarah and Laif are incredible parents.  I'm so grateful that they've welcomed me into their family (and even let me claim their linen closet as my own room when I come to visit!!  :) ).

This afternoon Hanna (who's hiding behind 'George', the silver drip line thing...) and I went to visit Sister Feher, one of the sister missionaries, who's in the hospital for a few days for some testing.  Poor baby!  But she kept us laughing with her jokes and with Finnish phrases that elicit perplexed looks from the Finns (she's Hungarian). One such phrase is "Mika boogie?!"  It's slang for, "What's up?"  Apparently it's from a rap song.  It was one of the first greetings that her missionary trainer (pictured on the left) taught her.  Good times!  I hope she gets to feeling better soon.  Being in the hospital is no fun!

I also mentioned to Sister Feher that she's solved the "hospital gown" mystery for me.  I knew they had to have some type of clothing for patients.  :)  Indeed they do.  And they are WAY nicer than the hospital gowns in the U.S.  These are actual pajamas!!

Here's to the start of another week full of learning and growth.